Apostle John’s Three Letters . . . 2 John 5–7

   The Commandment to Love

Can love ever lead us in the wrong direction? It can when we mistake it for agreeing with everyone or accepting every teaching. In Second John, John calls us to a love shaped by obedience to God — not merely by warm feelings or good intentions. His command to love one another stands alongside a warning about those who misrepresent Jesus Christ. As we study vv. 5–7, let’s consider how we can love others generously without compromising the truth about our Savior.

Today we’ll look closely at “love” and “obedience.” John identifies himself as “the elder” and addresses his letter to a chosen lady and her children. As noted last week, we’re understanding this as a reference to a local congregation, although some interpret it as an actual woman and her children. The letter encourages faithful love, obedience, and discernment about supporting false teachers. Its opening emphasizes the truth that lives in believers and John’s joy at finding them walking in it (2 John 2–4).

Today’s passage develops two closely related themes:

  (1) We’re to love one another — a command believers have had from the beginning (v. 5).
  (2) Love involves walking in obedience to God’s commands, including his command to walk in love (v. 6).

John then explains the need for such faithfulness: Many deceivers refuse to acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh (v. 7). His warning leads to the later instruction against welcoming or supporting these teachers (vv. 10–11). Christians must therefore practice love while remaining firmly grounded in the truth about Jesus.

We’re to Love One Another (2 John 5)

As we’ve seen in First John, the apostle repeatedly emphasizes love — God’s love for us and our love for one another (1 John 3:1, 14; 4:7). He returns to that theme in this second letter. Although he warns about deceivers, he doesn’t describe a division within this particular congregation. His appeal is straightforward: Believers must continue practicing the love they’ve been taught from the beginning.

John isn’t introducing a new remedy or an unfamiliar obligation. “From the beginning” most naturally refers to the readers’ earliest instruction in the Christian faith, rather than specifically to the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Loving one another belongs to the foundation of their life as believers.

A Familiar Command with Lasting Importance John’s appeal recalls Jesus’ words to his disciples:

Why does Jesus call this command “new,” while John says he isn’t writing a new command? Jesus sets his own love before the disciples as their pattern: “As I have loved you.” By the time John writes this short letter, that command is already foundational teaching his readers have received. He isn’t replacing it but calling them to continue practicing it.

Notice John’s wording: “I ask that we love one another.” Although he’s reminding them of a command, his appeal is personal and inclusive. He places himself alongside his readers under the same obligation. Love isn’t merely something the elder expects from others; it’s something he must practice too. Earlier, John stressed that love for God can’t be separated from love for brothers and sisters in Christ (1 John 4:20–21). Here, he again directs believers toward a faith expressed in their relationships.

Love Expressed through Obedience  Today, we believers in Jesus must take his commands seriously. Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15, NIV). Obedience gives practical expression to our love for him; persistent refusal to obey contradicts a profession of love. This doesn’t mean that every failure proves our love false, but it does challenge us to examine the direction of our lives.

The cammand to love one another is central to that obedience, although Jesus’ words in John 14:15 aren’t limited to this single command. In the next verse of Second John, the elder will explain more fully how love and obedience belong together. Jesus and John repeatedly connect love with obedience, as these passages remind us:

How, then, might we love our brothers and sisters in Christ? Through genuine concern, patient listening, practical help, and acts of mercy. When correction is needed, we should speak truthfully and humbly, seeking another person’s good rather than an opportunity to win an argument. Love doesn’t require us to approve every belief or action. John’s warning about deceivers makes that clear. Yet faithfulness to the truth gives us no permission to become harsh or contemptuous.

Love when relationships are strained  When personal relationships suffer, scolding, condemnation, and a war of words can deepen bitterness. Genuine love seeks a better way through patience, honest conversation, forgiveness, and a willingness to listen. Such love can help repair damaged relationships, but reconciliation isn’t always immediate or possible. Love may also require correction and appropriate boundaries. John’s appeal doesn’t promise that every separation will be healed; it calls believers to remain faithful in how they treat one another.

Let’s therefore do more than claim that we love God. Let’s demonstrate that love through our care for his children. John’s familiar command remains personally challenging: “I ask that we love one another” (v. 5).

Father God’s Command: Walk in Love! (2 John 6)

John next explains what love consists of: obedience to God’s commands. As he also teaches in 1 John 5:3, believers express their love for God by obeying him, especially through their love for one another.

Remember what we highlighted in our previous study: John rejoiced to find believers walking in the truth (v. 4). He then urged them to love one another (v. 5). Now he brings these themes together, showing that Christian love involves obedience to God. Truth and love aren’t competing priorities; both are essential to faithful Christian living.

“And this is love”  A believer’s love for God becomes visible through obedience. Warm feelings and sincere words have their place, but they can’t substitute for doing what he commands. John calls us to a continuing way of life — a daily walk shaped by God’s will.

Notice how he moves from “his commands” to “his command.” Obedience embraces all that God requires, while the specific command to love one another remains central. “From the beginning” recalls the instruction these believers received when they first learned the Christian faith. John isn’t introducing a different standard; he’s urging them to practice what they already know. This love should characterize our fellowship and make our discipleship recognizable. We don’t earn God’s love through obedience; rather, obedience expresses our response to the love he’s already shown us.

Loving God and our neighbor  Recall Jesus’ answer when a teacher of the Law asked which commandment was most important. Jesus named love for God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength, followed by love for one’s neighbor as oneself (Deuteronomy 6:5). These commands were already present in the Torah: Deuteronomy 6:5 commands wholehearted love for God, and Leviticus 19:18 commands love for one’s neighbor. Jesus brought them together as the greatest commandments. Deuteronomy 6:5 doesn’t say, “Believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ”; its command is to love the Lord your God.

John’s emphasis is consistent with Jesus’ teaching. Devotion to God can’t be separated from our treatment of others. We can’t claim obedience while withholding the love God commands.

Love that remains faithful to truth  Walking in love doesn’t mean accepting every teaching. In the next verse, John warns about deceivers who deny Jesus Christ’s coming in the flesh. His command to love must therefore be understood alongside his insistence on truth.

Other passages help us practice discernment, but they shouldn’t be combined into a five-step formula attributed to John. First John 4:1 (as highlighted in Warren’s summary) calls believers to test the spirits. Titus 1:9–13 particularly charges church leaders to confront destructive teaching. Such correction serves the protection and spiritual health of the church, not a license for personal hostility.

Likewise, 2 Thessalonians 3:6 addresses idle, disorderly believers rather than issuing a blanket command to avoid every mistaken person. Paul later adds that the disobedient person should be warned as a fellow believer, not treated as an enemy (3:14–15).

Let’s remain discerning without becoming harsh. Walking in love means obeying God, caring for others, and refusing to support teaching that distorts the truth about Jesus.

Deceivers and Antichrists Deny the Real Jesus (2 John 7)

Love and truth go hand in hand. After explaining that love involves obedience to God’s commands, John warns about teachers who deny the truth about Jesus Christ. His point isn’t that we must stop loving those who reject the truth, but that love must never become an excuse for supporting their deception.

Notice the connection: “I say this because.” John isn’t abandoning his emphasis on love; he’s explaining why faithful love requires discernment. Believers must remain obedient to God rather than be drawn away by teaching that misrepresents his Son.

Denying Jesus’ genuine humanity  In First John, the apostle similarly warns about deceivers and antichrists (1 John 2:18–23; 4:1–6). Here, he identifies their particular error: they refuse to acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. Their teaching strikes at the incarnation — the reality that God’s Son truly became human. Jesus didn’t merely appear to share our humanity.

Some interpreters connect this denial with early forms of Docetism, which treated Jesus’ physical humanity as an appearance rather than a reality. Such ideas also resemble beliefs associated with later Gnostic systems. However, John doesn’t identify these teachers as Gnostics or describe their complete beliefs. We should therefore avoid assigning them a developed theological system or assuming how they behaved.

Nor does this letter establish that these particular teachers had left the congregation receiving it. First John describes people departing from the believers’ fellowship, but Second John emphasizes the deceivers’ activity in the world and the danger of supporting their teaching.

Why their teaching threatened the church  The letter’s later instructions about receiving teachers into one’s home suggest a setting involving traveling teachers who depended on hospitality. Providing lodging and support could help them continue spreading their message. John therefore warns his readers against becoming participants in their work (10–11). The danger wasn’t merely that these visitors expressed unfamiliar opinions. They denied something foundational about Jesus. Christian hospitality must not become a means of promoting a message that contradicts the Christ proclaimed by the apostles.

This distinction matters today. We can treat people with kindness while refusing to endorse their teaching. Love doesn’t require us to provide a platform, financial support, or spiritual approval for those actively spreading a false account of Jesus.

“The deceiver and the antichrist”  John describes anyone who promotes this denial as “the deceiver and the antichrist.” The designation applies to the kind of person he’s just described; it doesn’t require us to identify one particular end-times figure. Such teaching opposes the real Christ by presenting a false account of him.

Pastor David Guzik makes a related observation: “They are those who not only oppose Jesus, but also offer a substitute ‘Christ.’” That’s a helpful interpretive description of the danger. A teacher may use Jesus’ name while denying essential truth about who he is.

The Greek word translated “deceivers,” planoi, describes people who mislead others. The important point isn’t the word’s relationship to wandering or to our word “planet,” but the spiritual danger John identifies: These teachers lead people away from the truth about Jesus.

“Coming in the flesh”  The Greek word erchomenon, translated “coming,” is a present participle. Some interpreters understand this wording as emphasizing the abiding significance of the incarnation. Others, including Guzik, also connect it with Christ’s future bodily return. However, the grammatical form alone doesn’t establish that John is discussing the second coming. His immediate concern is the confession of Jesus Christ’s genuine humanity. We can therefore state John’s central point without making the tense carry more than it clearly establishes: the Jesus we confess must be the real Jesus, who truly came in the flesh—not a substitute fashioned to fit someone’s preferred beliefs.

As we noted last week, Christian truth is more than something we verbally profess; it’s something we live out. Yet faithful living also requires faithful belief. Let’s continue loving one another while holding firmly to the truth about our Savior. We must neither defend truth without love nor practice a supposed love that abandons truth.

Closing Considerations

Loving one another is an essential part of life in Christ. John emphasizes this in his second letter, urging believers to love in obedience to God (vv. 5–6). Love is one of his favorite themes. In First John, he explains that loving through actions and in truth helps assure us that we “belong to the truth” and enables us to set our hearts at rest in God’s presence (1 John 3:18–19).

John isn’t introducing a new command but reminding readers of one they’ve known from the beginning of their Christian instruction: Love one another. Jesus himself gave this command, setting his own love before his disciples as their example (John 13:34). Amid the danger of deceptive teaching, John calls believers to remain faithful to both truth and love. Neither should be sacrificed for the other.

As we walk with Christ, let’s prayerfully depend on the Holy Spirit and examine our conduct in the light of God’s Word. Are we obeying his commands? Are we showing practical care for one another? Such questions help us move beyond good intentions toward the obedient love John describes.

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